‘Such a hack’: Longtime Washington Post so-called ‘fact-checker’ heads for exit

Saying he’s had a “fantastic run,” Glenn Kessler, the longtime so-called “fact-checker” for the Washington Post, announced Monday he’s finally leaving the newspaper after receiving a buyout.

“After more than 27 years at The Washington Post, including almost 15 as The Fact Checker, I will be leaving on July 31, having taken a buyout,” Kessler said on LinkedIn.

“Much as I would have liked to keep scrutinizing politicians in Washington, especially in this era, the financial considerations were impossible to dismiss.”

pic.twitter.com/ZhgYiAMsj6

— Nicole Silverio (@NicoleMSilverio) July 28, 2025

Kessler indicated he now plans to write books.

“This year I completed a novel about a love triangle set in 1920s Dutch East Indies (colonial Indonesia), based on State Department cables I found in the National Archives,” he explained. “I have an idea for a nonfiction project and am open to freelance or consulting opportunities.”

Breitbart News noted: “Many of you know Kessler was merely a left-wing op-ed writer packaged as an ‘objective’ voice,” as it posted a list of “his worst offenses over the years.”

The Washington Post’s longtime “fact checker” Glenn Kessler is finally leaving.

Many of you know Kessler was merely a left-wing op-ed writer packaged as an “objective” voice. Here are some of his worst offenses over the years pic.twitter.com/E3XbUSlYls

— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) July 28, 2025

In May, the New York Post described Kessler as a “propaganda mill.”

“If there was such a thing as shame anymore, the Washington Post’s pompous ‘Fact Checker’ column would close up shop,” the editorial board of the New York Post wrote.

“New revelations in ‘Original Sin,’ a book about President Joe Biden’s decline, show how the White House covered up the obvious — and propaganda outlets like the Fact Checker shamed any media that broke ranks.

“Take Biden’s wandering off from a group of world leaders at last June’s D-Day celebrations: The New York Post’s front page read ‘MEANDER IN CHIEF,’ which sent Fact Checker writer Glenn Kessler into a fit of apoplexy: “‘Cheapfake’ Biden videos enrapture right-wing media, but deeply mislead’ was his headline. Kessler gave us ‘Four Pinocchios’ for promoting a ‘false narrative.’”

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Another critic of Kessler’s work is Fox News contributor Steve Milloy, who said he’s “had numerous occasions to fact check departing long-time WaPo ‘fact checker.’”

WaPo ‘fact-checker’ @GlennKesslerWP is such a hack:

“Biden’s record on electric vehicles holds up well in comparison to Trump’s.”

EV’s have been a disaster:

1. Consumers don’t want them.
2. Car dealers don’t want to sell them.
3. Manufacturers are scaling back plans to make… pic.twitter.com/edlX7wJfjq

— Steve Milloy (@JunkScience) January 30, 2024

As for what’s next for the fact-checker position at the Washington Post, Kessler said: “I’m not sure. As many people at The Post know, I tried to arrange a short-term contract that would have given the editors time to find a worthy successor and allow me to train him or her. I didn’t want The Post to have a gap in fact-checking coverage during this fraught period in U.S. history. But we couldn’t work out an agreement. (Okay, so I buried the lede.)

Fact-Checking Glenn Kessler

News flash, the Washington Post still suckshttps://t.co/tU3pYYmNMe pic.twitter.com/9aLY1RGNRF

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) July 24, 2025

“In 2018, when the Fact Checker team was compiling a database of more than 30,000 Trump claims, I told the New York Times that ‘I have the best job in journalism.’ I still believe that, and I’m sorry to leave without a replacement lined up. But it’s the right time for me. I hope The Post finds someone to carry on this important project.”

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